Isaiah
2: 2-5
December
15, 2013
First
Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL
Christina
Berry
Isaiah 2:2-5
In days to come the
mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the
mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to
it.
Many peoples shall
come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of
the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his
paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord
from Jerusalem.
He shall judge
between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their
swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift
up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!
When I turned in the
sermon title, some weeks ago, I called it “Beloved CommUNITY.” I’d have done
better to call it “Impossible Dream.” It doesn’t seem possible, does it, that
this vision of the prophet could come to pass? It is a vision of God’s Shalom. The
word “shalom” gets translated as “peace,” but when we were choosing scripture, and
when we chose the words for the banners, we wanted other words, other words
than “hope, peace, joy and love” that are used most years for the four Sundays
of Advent. We wanted words that would make us stop, slow down and think. We
wanted artwork on the banners that would do the same.
This text from Isaiah
is easily brushed off as an impossible vision of peace –
swords into
plowshares? spears into pruning hooks? Like that’ll happen!
No, this is not a
text for us now, here, in 2013 in Sterling, Illinois.
This is a text for
some far off future, a vision of peace that cannot happen any time soon.
After all, look at
this sequence of events:
1. “The
mountain of the Lord’s house”—that is, Zion—will be elevated and exalted (v. 2ab).
2. There
will be a pilgrimage of all peoples to the holy mountain (vv. 2c-3a). That’s
ALL peoples – all the nations, everyone in the world.
3.
As they are marching to Zion they are singing glad songs, prayers that the God
of Jacob may teach them God’s ways (v. 3b).
4.
They are coming in order to learn God’s law “torah” – the covenant and
commandment.
5. The
one they worship will “judge between the nations,” literally, God will BRING
JUSTICE among all people.[1]
It’s a nice thought, isn’t it, that someday there will be
peace and justice throughout the earth? It’s more comfortable that way, to keep
all this at arm’s length, an impossible dream for the future. Oh, sure, we
would love to have this happen now, but it just isn’t realistic. It is too
challenging for us to envision this happening right here and right now.
After all, it would require that people – all people – come
together as one people, and that they be prepared to give up conflict and disagreement.
It would demand that each one of us be peacemakers, for there is no other way
to find unity unless that unity begins within our own souls. Realistically, it
can’t happen, this unity of the beloved community.
But it can.
It can happen, because Jesus came, the prince of peace.
It can happen, because God’s covenant and commandment came in
human form, in a baby born to lead us in the way of peace. It can be born
within us, and among us.
It begins when we take our own swords and spears and place
them into the foundry of God’s mercy and love. Unity begins when we lay down
our weapons – even if those weapons are words, or political positions, or
opinions, even if – especially if – those weapons are the “facts” we use to
bludgeon others. Unity begins when we promise that we will study war no more, that
we will be drop-outs from the school of conflict. Unity begins when we enroll
in God’s classes, when we begin studying for citizenship in that beloved
community, the one made whole, brought together, in Christ Jesus. Instructed in
him, we will study – focus – dwell – on God’s torah, on God’s covenant and
commandment.
And what is God’s
law? Jesus said it. The greatest commandment is this:
“You shall love the
Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your
mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it:
‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the
law and the prophets.”
So, people of God, as
we come streaming up the mountain, to come into God’s presence, as we go
marching into Christmas, to gather around the manger in the candlelight, we
look to that reality of God’s presence. Then Jesus comes among us as the Word
incarnate, to teach us God’s law and covenant. What is the law that we are to
learn? The great commandment, which brings God’s shalom.
Because shalom is not
just the absence of war.
Shalom is unity,
wholeness, the justice of love that only God can give.
Shalom begins within
us, and spreads out from us.
There is no better
time than this season to be reconciled to God, and to be reconciled to one
another. There is no better time than this season to seek the unity that comes
from inner peace. The vision of shalom is of wholeness, of unity, of being made
one in Christ, who is coming to be born anew.
May his peace and unity be born in us again and again and
again.
Amen.
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